E-course FST blog: How my neighbor transforms her own…

Bergene Boshe is a nutritionist from Hawassa, Ethiopia who participated in this year's e-course on food system transformation. Last month, he saw something extraordinary on television: the prime minister of his country showed the mayor of Addis Ababa around in his vegetable gardens. The message was transformative indeed: everyone can be an urban farmer, the smallest plots and even walls can be made productive. And urban waste can be turned into fertile compost.

My neighbour Yetnebersh had seen everything on TV too. And she got really inspired. In no time, she turned a plot in our compound into a home garden full of kale, cabbage. She no longer needs to buy these vegetables for her family of four. This is a relief as the prices of food and especially vegetables have gone through the roof. Instead, she takes care of her home garden on a daily basis. Her husband Kedir encourages her and helps carry tap water to the garden every morning and evening. The family eats healthy while saving money. They have become a sort of role model. A second neighbour also started with vegetables and is now learning from Yetnebersh and Kedir.

My appreciation for my neighbours is how they changed and maintain a continued commitment and sustain their urban garden production. And this brings me to my key take-away from the e-course. It is the iceberg model with events, patterns of behaviour, systems structure and mental models. The high food prices and the television triggered a change in behaviour and in the mindset about food. As a nutritionist, I would love to see the next generation change in the same way when it comes to their behaviour and their mindset about food. For now, my neighbours are my big daily inspiration.